It might not come as much of a surprise to students, but a significant majority of those who tangle with Dartmouth's disciplinary system do so because of alcohol, official College reports indicate.
For the third straight year, roughly 60 percent of the cases entering the disciplinary system this past academic year resulted in students being found responsible for either public intoxication or underage possession of alcohol, according to the latest Office of Undergraduate Judicial Affairs report.
In all, 261 students were found responsible for public intoxication and 85 received violations for underage possession of alcohol, according to the report.
This represented 68 percent of sanctions, down slightly from last year.
In a particularly serious incident involving drinking this past year, one intoxicated student started a fire in a residence hall stairwell and then ran away, in the end getting expelled from the College.
"The sanction reflects the seriousness and danger of the student's behavior, inconsistencies between the student's account and the physical evidence and the fact that the student ran away from the fire without pulling an alarm," the report concluded.
The incident, described in the report as "not typical," was one of 588 disciplinary cases handled by the College during the 2003-04 academic year.
Four students were suspended for driving under the influence, and also faced local court cases, while 17 students were disciplined for possessing drugs or drug paraphernalia.
The report also recorded five serious cases of students becoming "extremely belligerent and uncooperative" with Safety and Security and Dick's House personnel, leading to two suspensions and some court charges.
In one case of alleged sexual abuse, a male student was suspended for six terms.
In another incident, two students having relationship problems were placed on College Discipline and "directed to have no further contact with each other," and one of the students was later suspended for violating that order.
"Though students may hope to keep their relationship issues private, there can be disciplinary ramifications when problems in a relationship lead to either noise complaints or other situations that bring the matter to the College's attention," the report noted.
Most other College discipline cases involved the Academic Honor Principle.
Seventeen of 18 students found responsible for violations received some type of suspension. For the first time this year, students charged with Honor Principle violations were able to opt out of a Committee on Standards hearing and meet with a dean instead. As a result, just six of 20 cases reached the Committee.
Former director of Undergraduate Judicial Affairs Marcia Kelly said in some plagiarism cases students plead ignorance of the proper way to cite sources, but that doesn't necessarily absolve students of punishment.
"It really depends upon the nature of the situation," said Kelly.
The report cites the "Sources" handbook in recommending students write down their sources as they do research, and notes that students are supposed to do something if they find out about a violation of the Academic Honor Principle.
In at least one case last year, a student alerted a professor about an e-mail containing exam answers, leading the professor to change the exam.
The student who sent the e-mail had apparently taken the exam early and sent information to the class.
The report framed such cases as a question of confidence.
"Faculty at Dartmouth approach their teaching from a perspective of trusting students and expecting trust in return. That trust may be irreparably harmed by the failure of students to report this type of incident," the report said.
The report was compiled mainly by Kelly, a 10-year College veteran, who was promoted to an associate dean position effective Friday, replacing Janet Terp. Assistant director of Undergraduate Judicial Affairs April Thompson is serving as the acting director of the department.
